


as certain dark things are to be loved

by politicalmamaduck



Series: On the Hunt [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Dark Side Rey, F/M, No Pregnancy, Planet Naboo (Star Wars), Safe to Read if You're Triggered by Pregnancy, Short One Shot, Smuggler Ben Solo, Tumblr: reylofanfictionanthology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-14
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:22:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22693231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politicalmamaduck/pseuds/politicalmamaduck
Summary: Lady Rey, Master of the Knights of Ren, makes a choice. She chooses Ben Solo.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: On the Hunt [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/767742
Comments: 14
Kudos: 107
Collections: For one is both and both are one in love: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange, Reylo Hidden Gems





	as certain dark things are to be loved

**Author's Note:**

  * For [little corvus (tropixo)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tropixo/gifts).



> Written for tropixo for the 2020 Reylo Fanfiction Anthology Gift Fic Exchange: For One Is Both and Both Are One in Love! Title is taken from Pablo Neruda's Soneto XVII; you can read the Spanish original [here](https://www.poemas-del-alma.com/soneto-xvii.htm) and an English translation [here](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49236/one-hundred-love-sonnets-xvii).

She chased him, hunted him, across the galaxy, only to end up in bed with him on Naboo. 

Lady Rey, Master of the Knights of Ren, had trained without ceasing since Snoke found her on Jakku. She honed her skills, feasting on anger and others’ fear as if they were the finest Coruscant delicacies.

She prepared for this assignment diligently. She learned all about Ben Solo, Jedi turned smuggler. His family legacy followed him, haunted him almost as desperately as she had. She wanted to please her Master by bringing him Ben Solo--either in chains or his head.

But the tables had turned as if in a cantina brawl, for which he was famous. The artificial gravity gave out, just like the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive. 

He had bested her in combat twice before they met again in Theed. This time, instead of fleeing from her, he invited her to join him for what she thought would be a temporary truce. A negotiation, perhaps. She let her guard down and joined him.

He made her dinner, told her about Naboo’s history and his own family’s connection to the villa in which he was staying. He invited her to stay. 

She stayed. 

Instead of wanting to kill him, she was now desperate for his touch, his kiss. She straddled him as easily as she had fought him just a few days prior. Their movements were just as fluid in bed as they were in battle. An arm here, a leg there. It was not so different, truly, complete with racing hearts and heavy breathing. 

The tone of voice, the way they touched, the moaning with pleasure instead of hissing in pain--that was all different, however. 

Her own vulnerability frightened Rey the most. Snoke never allowed her to be vulnerable. It was a weakness she could not afford. She had missions, assignments, which she executed flawlessly on behalf of the First Order. There had never been any room for error. She made her Master proud. 

Now, she spilled her secrets into a set of delightful ears which she learned to nibble. Her heart opened for the first time, and to someone she had always considered her enemy. 

Someone her Master wanted her to turn to the Dark Side. Or kill. 

She had known they would cross paths again. The Force sang when they fought each other, a wild and frantic accompaniment to their deadly dances. And she would not give up on her mission.

She had dreamed of him more than once since the first time they met; she dreamed about him more times than she wanted to count. In her dreams, their kisses were always tinged with blood. She was never as vulnerable with him in her dreamscapes as she was in reality now. In her dreams, she was always in control, getting what she wanted from him without giving away her heart and soul. 

Perhaps she didn’t always want to have to be perfectly controlled, the perfect apprentice to her Master. Ben had told her she had more choices than she wanted to admit. He had told her she’d have to follow him across the stars, to keep chasing him to the ends of the galaxy. 

He was right, in more ways than one. She finally forced herself to admit it. 

She stood on the balcony and looked out at the stars, the shining moon, and wondered when their idyll would have to come to an end. 

She also finally admitted to herself that she didn’t want it to. 

Ben came to join her on the balcony, wrapping his arms around her from behind. He kissed and nuzzled her neck. 

“I know what you’re thinking,” he mumbled into her skin. “Don’t leave me. Not yet. We can always fly off to another star, together.” 

She sighed. Breaking free of his embrace, she turned to him and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“It’s not that simple, Ben.”

“It could be. If you wanted it enough. The Dark Side wants you to believe that you have to go back to Snoke. But you don’t. You’re intelligent, and capable, and the strongest Force user I’ve ever met. You could be anything you wanted to be, Rey. But you have to want something else. You are more than what Snoke made you. What he wants you to believe.” 

“The Supreme Leader is wise, Ben. He’s taught me everything I know.”

“That’s not true. You raised yourself on Jakku without his help. Taught yourself how to fly, how to speak multiple languages. You wanted something more than being under a master’s thrall. Remember that, Rey. Remember who you are beneath all the anger and hate and lies. Think about this time you’ve spent with me. You don’t hate me, not anymore. I don’t know that you ever really did. I love you, Rey. I want to show you what that means.”

Ben was breathless by the time he finished. He looked down at his feet, sighed, and ran his hands through his hair. 

Rey didn’t know what to say, or how to react; her heart was racing, as she was sure Ben’s was too. He was right that she wanted something more when she was growing up all alone on Jakku. She didn’t want another master, certainly not one like Unkar Plutt. Or the Supreme Leader, for that matter. She had never imagined a significant other or life partner, however, and had no examples of healthy relationships to follow. She had never seen a happy couple. Or a couple at all, honestly. She had no relationships of which to speak. She never imagined another being could take her breath away the way Ben Solo had, that anyone would love her and want to run away with her. 

All she could think about was how much she wanted to make love to him again. 

So she took a step forward, opening herself to him in the Force as she moved to him. Their bond had been a complication, previously. She didn’t want him in her head; she hadn’t wanted him to know her intimately or to use their connection to know her movements.

But now, it was an asset, enhancing their pleasure while they entwined and whiled away the hours exploring one another’s bodies. 

They had not yet fully explored each other’s minds. Or hearts. Or souls. 

But she wanted to. She truly wanted to. 

So Rey, Master of the Knights of Ren, apprentice to Supreme Leader Snoke, made her choice. She chose Ben Solo, and a lifetime of opportunity, without a master to castigate her for her perceived weaknesses. She chose to be weak and vulnerable in the way it mattered most, in the way she assumed others had struggled since time immemorial. Love had changed her, caused her to make choices she had never considered possible before.

She reached for Ben’s face, and stroked his cheek. Though she could not see it, her eyes were shining in the darkness and starlight. 

She pulled him down for a kiss. 

Neither of them could have stated how long they kissed before she took his hand and pulled him towards their bed in the massive Naboo estate. 

Varykino was paradise, but they hadn’t seen much of it in favor of seeing each other naked as much as possible. 

Their clothing was quickly abandoned, the bedsheets were quickly rumpled, and they quickly forgot their troubles while they drowned in each other. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you as always to my beta boo Desiree and the RFFA mod team. Please leave a comment with your thoughts and come chat with me on Twitter and Tumblr!


End file.
